ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest

Subject: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 05:57 PM

Yep, July 2001 issue, in "Laughter, the Best Medicine" a "Kumiko Yoshida" contributed one of the humourous stories Art has on one of his albums, I think it was "Tall Tales & Outright Lies."

It's the one about the little guy showing up at the lumber camp, asks the head lumberjack for a chance to show what he can do. As Art tells it, the fellah takes down each tree the boss tells him to, each time the chosen tree is bigger, etc.

When the bossman asks him where he learned to cut trees like that, he answered, "The Sahara."
Bossman says, "The Sahara Desert?!"
Little guy, "Desert? Oh sure, that's what they call it now!"

Now, that is just a synopsis, not told anywhere near as well as Art does, but Reader's Digest does ask for comments on their current issue and I intend to tell them to give credit where credit is do.

Art, if you see this, would you please, or anyone else who knows, give me the corrent album title and date of original release?

And, they used it as the lead one, top, left corner of the first page of that section!

kat

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:03 PM

I never had you figured as a Reader's Digest subscriber, Kat! *BG*

Murray

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: GUEST,Digest Reader
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:08 PM

"I am Joe's Cured Insomnia"

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Mark Clark
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:15 PM

Hurrah, Art finally made Reader's Disgust. I hope they sent him some money... but I bet not.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Banjer
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:26 PM

I've quit sending thing to Readers Digest. The last one was a couple of years back and it was an original story that took place where I work. Kat will enjoy it.

We had working with us in our shop a true Native American, born and raised on a reservation in N Dakota. His nickname was Howdy, since that was how he greeted everyone. He smoked cigarettes and had the habit of putting them out in the trash cans. In our shop our trash barrels are 55 gallon drums. One day he disposed of a cigarette which was not completely extinquished, and after a while a fairly good sized column of smoke arose from the can. As we were laying a hose over to the can to put the fire out our boss came through and asked what had happened. We told him Howdy had been sending smoke signals. His reply, without missing a beat, 'Tell him next time to use the phone like everybody else'

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:52 PM

My mother stopped subscribing to the Readers Digest when she found my younger brother and me studying "I Am Joe's Left Testicle"

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 06:57 PM

LOL at all of you!

Murray, it's an old habit from my childhood, like MAD Magazine (until Bill Gaines died and it went to shit!) I admit, it is just a TAD, oh hell, a LOT too conservative for my taste in most things, but I do enjoy the humour.

Mark, Art's name wasn't mentioned anywhere, it was just noted as contributed by the person whose name I included above. THAT'S why I am going to write to the buggers!LOL

Banj, love it!

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 07:16 PM

Kat--the "A Lumber Camp Tale" is on Art's CD, "The Older I Get, the Better I Was," Track No. 5.

Lin

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 07:19 PM

Thanks, Lin, I will have to look at my liner notes for that (couldn't remember the name), as I know it was on one of his earlier albums, too, maybe it will say which one. I want to have teh earliest sate possible before I write to the blighters.**BG**

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 07:23 PM

joke so bad even HEE HAW turned it down

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 07:26 PM

I am Joe's tickled funnybone!

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 07:59 PM

Dunno, kat--I've got three earlier tapes, and don't have it noted as being on any of them. I 'spose it could be--we usually only index songs. Definitely write the buggers, although Kumiko Yoshida will probably just claim he (or she) heard it first and elsewhere...humor is hard to prove the provenance of, since most of it gets distributed word of mouth. Good luck!

Lin

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Art Thieme
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 08:15 PM

Kat,

Thanks for speaking well of me and my efforts but I didn't originate that story. It's an old tall tale/joke/whatever that I first heard told by a great storyteller (who most folks knew as a stand up comic) nameMYRON COHEN.

Some commercial also used the little tale quite recently but I heard Mr. Cohen tell it at least 25 years ago.

Art

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 10:17 PM

Thnaks, Art! I shall tell them, then!

luvyakat

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Jul 01 - 01:04 AM

Ah Art.....Thanks for "coming clean" but we still love you.

I was gonna' out you anyway as the joke has roots clear back to Vaudeville and probably beyond. The thing here is that a great joke, like a great song, needs to be repeated! Because it's old doesn't make it bad but the advent of radio and TV made the demand for new jokes very high. But a classic is always a classic. Groucho used to talk about that a lot and he was right.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: kendall
Date: 01 Jul 01 - 09:20 AM

I was using that one to open my gigs long before the commercial came out. The commercial was the reason I dropped it. Hey, if you are into humor, bid on STORIES TOLD IN THE KITCHEN in the mudcat auction. (Sorry Sinsull) Or go to Folk Legacy for a copy of SEAGULLS & SUMMERPEOPLE.

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 01 Jul 01 - 10:28 AM

And Myron's punch line was shorter and sweeter:

Sure. Now!

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jul 01 - 10:36 AM

I always thought someone should write one of them "Joe" articles called "Joe is not Joe's Brain", but given the money the AMA and drug industry spend on that rag, I doubt they'd want to know about it!!! It's a floating billboard for the pharmaceutical crowd and the "talk Jesus but pray to the doctor!" sorts.

But the stories are pretty good sometimes.

A

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 01 - 08:37 PM

Dare I say that there are some people among us who are old enough to be in the "public domain"?

I think when I heard the story when I was a kid, it referred to Paul Bunyan.
Hey, maybe I'm in the public domain, too...
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: GUEST,--seed
Date: 02 Jul 01 - 05:48 AM

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: GUEST,--seed
Date: 02 Jul 01 - 05:55 AM

I'm not usually so tongue-tied. I was going to say my favorite Art Thieme story is "The Great Turtle Drive,"--I'll let Art post that one--but my dumb finger landed on the return key and posted a blank. And then there's the one about Art's dog that accidentally got its tail cut off and bled to death. The dog's ghost came back wanting its tail, so Art took him to the liquor store--where they retail spirits.

I gotta come by from time to time and say "Yo, dere," to Art and Spaw and kat and Leej and the big mick and all, so "Yo, dere, folks."

--seed

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Jul 01 - 06:02 AM

Yo SEED!!!!!!!! How great to see you! Hang about more often old friend.....We miss you!

Spaw

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: Burke
Date: 02 Jul 01 - 10:24 PM

Kat, I don't understand the problem. I thought "Laughter the Best Medicine" was just what this is, a story or joke that may or may not be written by the person submitting it.

Subject: RE: ART THIEME's Humour in Reader's Digest
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jul 01 - 11:42 PM

It is and it's not a problem, really, Burke, I just like to see Art get credit when it is due. In this case, I was mistaken, as Art kindly pointed out.

Yo, ---seed! Love seeing you here, darlin'!